Bittersweet
by peytona05
Summary: Mike begins teaching the kids about Black History Month, just as a prejudiced boy joins the class.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story takes places during the 2nd season (obviously, since Mike's in it), but I was never sure which 2 episodes to put it between. So feel free to use your imagination. Also, the only characters I own are Mrs. Kirkhart, Dr. Elliott, Officer Mitchell, and Keith & Todd Jamison. All others were created by David W. Duclon.**

* * *

There comes a point in every child's life when they must choose between revenge and forgiveness. Punky was about to make that decision for the first time. She stood in the hallway of Cook County Hospital, watching Todd Jamison as he walked toward her from the elevators. Punky bit her lip, and wondered what he was doing here...

* * *

"Good morning, good morning, good morning," Mike said cheerily the previous Monday morning. He was standing by his classroom door, greeting each student as they filed in. Mike offered a "high five" to Punky and each of her friends just as an office helper walked up and said, "This is for you, Mr. Fulton," as he handed Mike a folded piece of school stationary.

"Thanks," Mike returned, opening the note just as the tardy bell rang. He shut the door behind him, and quickly read the note to himself as he headed for his desk.

"Mike, what's that piece of paper for?" Punky wanted to know.

"Class, we're going to have a new student joining us this morning, and he'll be here shortly. While we're waiting for him, let's say our Pledge of Allegiance and get started with some history."

The students rose from their desks, looked up at the American flag, placed their hands on their hearts, and began to recite the Pledge. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

As the children sat back down, Mike started passing out folders. "Okay, kids, take one and pass the rest back, but don't open them yet. I want you to take a good look around at your classmates. What do you see?"

"Poor choices in fashion," Margaux said.

Mike supressed a laugh as he patted the blonde on the back. "Good guess, Margaux, but try again."

Just then there was a knock at the door, and the principal poked her head in. "Mr. Fulton, I have your new student here with me."

Mrs. Kirkhart opened the classroom door all the way and allowed a boy with strawberry-blond hair to enter ahead of her. "This is Todd Jamison; he's just moved here from Georgia. Todd, you'll like Mr. Fulton. He'll work with you to make sure you're caught up with the other students in the class." Mrs. Kirkhart left with a gentle smile and a wave, closing the door behind her.

"Well, Todd, welcome to the fourth grade; I hope you enjoy yourself," Mike said, doing his impersonation of Bill Cosby.

Todd looked up at Mike as if he couldn't decide what to make of his new teacher. He didn't move, and he didn't blink; he simply stood there, staring.

The child's gaze unnerved Mike. "Uh, Todd, if you'd like to take a seat, there's an empty desk in the back corner by the window."

No response and no movement; Todd continued to stare.

Mike squatted so he could see eye-to-eye with the boy. Placing a hand on Todd's arm, Mike said quietly, "Todd, are you all right?"

Mike's touch broke Todd's trance. The boy wrenched away, muttering angrily, "Don't touch me."

Withdrawing his hand, the teacher stood and gave Todd a folder, taken slightly aback at the child's response. "Okay, Todd, just calm down. There's no need to get upset. Go ahead and have a seat." Mike turned his attention back to the class. "Now, where were we?"

Cherie raised her hand. "You wanted to know what we see when we look at each other."

"Right. Do you have any ideas?"

Cherie took a second look around the room. "We don't look the same."

"Right again. Can anyone name some things that are different about us?"

"The color of our hair," Allen said.

"The way we dress," Margaux added.

"The color of our eyes," Punky piped up.

"The way we dress," Margaux repeated.

This time Mike did laugh. "All right, Margaux, thank you. We all know we don't have your taste in fashion. But you're all missing a pretty big difference."

After a moment of thoughtful silence, Cherie figured out what Mike was getting at. "Our skin. The colors of our skin are different."

Mike noticed Todd rolling his eyes. "Anything you'd like to add, Mr. Jamison?"

The boy scoffed. "It took you guys that long to figure out what makes us different? Boy, people out here are really slow at catching on to things."

"Hold on," Punky said as she turned to look at her new classmate. "What do you mean, 'what makes us different'? How we look is how we look. It's our personalities that make us different."

"Yeah," Allen piped up. "And just because I'm slow at catching on doesn't mean that everyone else is. And I thought I said dumb things in class." He rolled his eyes.

"Kids, we're getting off topic here. Let's get back to these folders that I passed out. This month in history, we're going to be celebrating Black History Month."

"We're going to celebrate the history of the color black?" Allen asked.

"No, stupid," Todd responded. "It's the history of the slaves."

"Todd, name-calling is unnecessary and uncalled for, and I won't have it in my classroom. And, actually, Black History Month is about the accomplishments of the descendants of those slaves. If you take a look through your folders, you'll see names like Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. There's a copy of Dr. King's famous speech, 'I Have a Dream,' and a photograph of him giving his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. These folders have brief biographies of 28 African-American civil-rights leaders, poets, etc., one for every day of the month."

Todd scowled. "So in other words, we're going to spend the entire month studying ape-faced celebrities."


	2. Chapter 2

"He was like that all day," Punky told Henry over a plate of spaghetti. "Mike finally had enough and sent Todd to the principal's office. After I finished up at my locker, I went back to say good-bye to Mike, and he looked real tired, but it wasn't a sleepy kind of tired. It was more like a hurt kind of tired. Do you think Todd hurt Mike's feelings by saying all those mean things?"

Henry swallowed before answering his foster daughter. "It's possible, Punky. Mike has feelings just like anyone else. And even though you and I know that people that look like Mike, Cherie, and Mrs. Johnson are nice, and that it's okay to be friends with them, there are other people, like Todd, that think differently. For whatever reason, some people see no reason to be nice to people that don't look like them."

"But Mike hasn't done anything to Todd. He doesn't have to think that about Mike."

"Punky, come here." Henry held his arms out to his foster daughter, and the child stood and walked over to him. She sat on his lap. "I know Mike hasn't done anything wrong. I also know how much you love Mike, and that it hurts you to think of him hurting. But this is an important lesson that you need to learn. Todd was made to say those words by a terrible thing called prejudice."

"What's that? Is it catchy?" Punky gasped. "Should we take Brandon to get a shot?"

Her golden retriever raised his head from his bowl at the word "shot", then quickly dashed through the dog door into the living room.

The old man smiled sadly. "No. Being prejudiced means that you assume you're better than anyone that doesn't look, act, or think the same way you do. And as sad as it is to say, when a person is taught to believe such a terrible lie, it's very nearly impossible to convince them to believe otherwise."

Punky was quiet for a moment. "Henry, I don't think I'm hungry anymore. I'm going to go to my room and do the rest of my homework."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this anymore?"

The little girl shook her head negatively. "Talking and thinking about it only make me want to cry. And I need to be able to see what I'm writing."

Once settled on the floor of her bedroom, Punky tried to concentrate on her math assignment, but her mind kept wandering. All she could think about was the look on Mike's face when school let out that afternoon. Punky finally decided that she could no longer focus on her homework, and she turned in her notebook to a blank sheet of paper. She began to write a letter.

_Dear Mike, I just wanted to let you know that..._

* * *

_...I think it was really rotten of Todd to say all those things to you. I'm sorry if he hurt your feelings, and I wish I knew how to fix it. Just remember that I'll always care about you, no matter what other people say, or how they treat you. Your friend, Punky._

The first bell rang, and as his students began to trickle in, Mike smiled as he placed the note under his gradebook.

* * *

"All right, gang, that's the lunch bell. When you come back, be prepared to go over your science homework. Punky, could you stay behind for a moment? I won't keep you long."

Punky's friends said they'd wait for her by their lockers. She watched them leave, then looked up at her teacher. "What's wrong, Mike?"

He sat on top of the desk beside Punky. "I really appreciated your note of encouragement this morning. It meant a lot to me, Punky; thank you. And even though there's no way you can fix things, you have helped me to feel better."

Punky smiled as she wrapped her arms around Mike's neck. "Good, I'm glad."

"You'd better get going. Your friends are waiting, and I'm expecting a visitor."

"Okay, Mike. I'll see you in a little while." As Punky left the room, she saw Todd talking to her friends, and Cherie looked upset. As she started to join them, she saw a man go into the classroom.

"Hi, guys, what's going on? What are you talking about?"

Margaux glared at Todd as she responded, "Nothing, Punky. Todd was just leaving."

"Hey, I can stand here for as long as I want, and I can say anything I want."

"What exactly did you say?" Punky asked suspiciously.

"My shoes need to be tied, but this little freak of nature won't touch them." Todd pointed at Cherie, who wiped away a tear.

Allen grabbed Todd's arm and turned him so that the two boys were facing each other. "Why don't you learn to tie your own shoes, bozo?"

Todd's eyes narrowed, and gathering his fingers into a fist, he put his hand up, just inches away from Allen's nose.

"Bye!" Grabbing his lunchbox, Allen ran off in the direction of the cafeteria.

"You heard what Mike said yesterday!" Margaux exclaimed. "Name-calling isn't nice. You need to take back what you just called Cherie."

"And if I don't, what are you going to do about it, Goldilocks?"

"Peasant!" Margaux blurted out as she turned and walked away.

Punky took Cherie by the hand and began pulling her towards the girls' restroom. "Come on, Cherie. Let's go get cleaned up."

Todd rolled his eyes, then headed to his own locker to retrieve his lunchbox. He closed his locker, rounded the corner, and saw his father leaving Mike's classroom.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

Keith Jamison turned, somewhat surprised to hear his son's voice behind him. "I received a call from your teacher last night; he said he'd like to meet with me about some behavioral problems." Mr. Jamison raised his eyebrows as he enunciated the last two words. "While I'm here, I guess I'll go ahead and take you home. Come on, son."

Todd saw his father glance back toward the classroom, and wondered why he looked so nervous.

As the father-son pair rounded the corner that would lead to the front parking lot, Punky and Cherie exited the restroom.

"Don't pay that creep any attention. Todd's just a jerk anyways," Punky was saying. "Let's go talk to Mike. He'll tell you the same thing."

The pair of friends entered the classroom, but not seeing their teacher right away, they went further in.

Cherie walked to the other side of Mike's desk and cried out, "Punky! Over here!"

Cherie and Punky dropped to their knees beside a barely conscious Mike Fulton. Both children started to weep at the sight of their friend.

Attempting to control her tears, Punky inquired, "Mike, what happened? Are you all right?"

Mike groaned softly. "Girls," he spoke, hardly above a whisper, "get help."

Cherie wiped her eyes and stood. "Punky, stay with him. I'll go to the front office."

"Cherie, call Henry, too." Punky watched her friend run out the room, and the tears continued. "Mike, I'm right here, and I won't leave you. I'm going to stay right beside you, because that's what friends are for." Punky gave Mike a weak smile as she reached for his hand. In that moment, looking at her hand in Mike's, she didn't see the colors black and white; she saw the rainbow of their friendship. But she also saw a world of pain.

* * *

Punky, Cherie, Henry, and Mrs. Johnson sat in the waiting area outside Mike's room at Cook County Hospital. The girls sat side by side, with their respective grown-ups on either side. Mrs. Johnson and Henry were looking through magazines, while the children talked quietly, each holding a tissue.

"It's like Henry told me last night. Some people think it's bad for blacks and whites to be friends. I'll bet whoever hurt Mike felt like that."

"Todd does."

Punky shook her head. "True, but he's too small to do any real damage. Besides, he wouldn't have had enough time to do anything. We weren't in the bathroom very long."

"I don't know anybody else that feels thay way, Punky. Everyone I know really likes Mike."

"Same here. Hey, wait a minute. Right after I walked out of the classroom to join you at our lockers, I saw a man go in. I wonder if he did it."

Cherie didn't have a chance to respond. A doctor exited Mike's room, shutting the door behind him, and approached the group of friends.

"Good afternoon, folks. My name is Dr. Elliott; I'm Mr. Fulton's attending physician."

Punky innocently asked, "Well, yeah, but where's the doctor that's going to be taking care of him?"

Dr. Elliott smiled as Henry patted Punky on the shoulder and hushed her. "Your friend will be just fine. Some nasty bruises are beginning to surface and his left wrist is sprained, so I am going to keep him at least overnight, because I want to make sure no fluid on the lungs somehow appears, but I am expecting that he'll be able to go home within the next 36 to 48 hours."

Mrs. Johnson spoke up. "Dr. Elliott, the girls are real anxious to get in there and check on their teacher. How soon will they be able to see him?"

"I'm sorry, but not today. I have him resting right now, and I don't want him disturbed for the evening. Come back tomorrow, and I'll let you see him then."

* * *

Henry entered his foster daughter's bedroom that evening to say good night, and he found her facing the opposite wall, crying.

"Punky, what's the matter?"

She turned to look at him, not even trying to hide her tears. "Henry, Mike _is_ going to be all right, isn't he?"

The old man sat on the stool by Punky's flower-cart bed. "You heard Dr. Elliott this afternoon; of course Mike will be okay."

"I know what the doctor said. I just wanted to hear it from you. I can't help but worry about him. He's not just my teacher, Henry; he's one of my best friends."

Punky wrapped her arms around Henry's neck, and he held her for a little while, knowing the child needed to learn what kind of damage prejudice could produce, but at the same time wishing she didn't have to learn it in such a harsh way.


	4. Chapter 4

After school the next day, Henry took Punky back up to the hospital to visit Mike. When Punky placed her hand on the door knob, she suddenly turned and looked at Henry.

"I don't know if I can do this." Punky fought back the tears.

Her foster father knelt down beside her, gently putting his hands on her shoulders. "Why not, Punky? The Mike lying behind this door is the same Mike we've always known."

"No, Henry, it's not. The Mike I know wouldn't let anybody hurt him. I don't understand why he'd let this happen."

"Then you need to go in there and ask him why, sweetheart."

The child bit her lip and nodded tearfully. She turned the handle and entered the room.

Mike was sitting up in bed, talking to a man that Punky didn't recognize. At first they didn't see her, and they continued with their conversation.

"Can you give me a description of the guy that attacked you, Mr. Fulton?"

"Sure," Mike replied, "and I can do even better than that. I can give you his name--Keith Jamison. His son is in my class, and I'd asked Mr. Jamison to come in for a parent-teacher conference. However--"

Punky couldn't help herself. She had to say something. "It was Todd's dad that did this to you?"

Mike turned his head in surprise. "Punky?"

"Hi, Mike. Dr. Elliott said to come back today to visit you. Who's your friend?"

"This is Officer Mitchell. This is one of my students, Punky Brewster. Would you mind giving me a minute to talk to her?"

The policeman left the room, and Mike beckoned to Punky with his hand to take Officer Mitchell's chair.

"How are you feeling, Mike?" Punky wanted to know when she was sitting down.

"Don't worry, Punky; I'll be fine. Dr. Elliott told me earlier that I'll be able to go home tomorrow morning. Right now, I want to talk about you. Henry stopped by around noon, and told me that you've been very upset over the things that Todd has said in class."

"What bothers me the most is the fact that he's hurting my friends. He made Cherie cry yesterday, and you're laying in a hospital bed, all because of things Todd said. Mike, I don't understand. Why'd you let Mr. Jamison do this to you? Why didn't you stop him?"

Mike took a slow, deep breath before answering. "Punky, I'm not sure attacking me was Mr. Jamison's intention when he agreed to meet with me. I have no proof that he meant me any harm. We don't know that Todd said anything to his father about the color of my skin. In the part of the country that Todd is from, there are people that don't have a problem with showing cruel behavior to African-Americans. But, no matter how much hurt Todd's words cause us, we need to forgive him, and not try to get back at him. When you get revenge, you're only hurting yourself."

"That doesn't make any sense. If I get back at Todd for hurting me and my friends, then Todd's the one getting hurt, not me."

"You see, Punky, every time you get back at somebody, they're going to want to get revenge on you, and you both continue going back and forth, until someone gets seriously hurt, or worse."

Punky thought for a moment. "But you weren't hurting anybody, and look at what happened to you. You didn't do anything wrong. And besides, forgiving Todd is hard. Revenge would be a whole lot easier."

"But which one is going to make you a better person? I love you, Punky, and you're a sweet little girl. I want you to do what's right, even if the right thing is making the harder decision. Promise me you'll think about it."

Punky nodded. "I will."

There was a knock at the door, and it opened just enough for Officer Mitchell to poke his head in. "Mr. Fulton, how soon can we wrap this up?"

"Right now, Officer. I'm not going to press charges." Mike looked at his student. "I _forgive_ Mr. Jamison."

The child sat on the edge of her teacher's hospital bed and wrapped her arms around Mike's neck. "I'll try, Mike. I love you, too."

Punky exited the room and started to cross the hall to join Henry. She happened to glance in the direction of the elevators, and stopped in her tracks.


	5. Epilogue

There comes a point in every child's life when they must choose between revenge and forgiveness. Punky was about to make that decision for the first time. She stood in the hallway, watching Todd as he walked toward her from the elevators. Punky bit her lip, and wondered what he was doing here.

Todd stopped when he was standing next to Punky. "Hi, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, but can I ask you something first? Why are you here, Todd?"

He licked his lips. "I came to check on Mr. Fulton. How is he?"

"Okay. He's resting now, but he'll be able to go home in the morning."

Todd was quiet for a moment. "Punky, I'm sorry. I've bee really rotten. Can you forgive me?"

"Why did you say all those things?"

The boy sighed. "I've heard my dad say them at home. He was really mad when he found out I'd used them in public. Apparently, it's not okay to say them in front of people. Honest, Punky, I didn't think Mr. Fulton would call my dad, and I definitely didn't think my dad would ever beat somebody up and do enough damage to put them in the hospital. Anyway, I didn't mean what I said. I'm sorry. You believe me, don't you?"

"I have to be honest, too, Todd. I don't know if I _should_ believe you. You really hurt Cherie's feelings, and mine. We didn't know if you were serious or not; it sounded like you were. You may not have meant any of the things that you said, but look at where your words got our teacher."

"I know. I came by to tell Mr. Fulton I'm sorry. But since he's resting now, and going home tomorrow, I guess I'll have to wait until he gets back to school." Todd turned and began to walk away.

Punky stood still for a moment, then ran after him. "Todd, wait!"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

She smiled. "I'll take you by his place tomorrow after school. I forgive you."


End file.
